2011 NLL Division Finals Preview

By Tom Hoffman

With four teams down and four left standing, the National Lacrosse League will determine the Champion’s Cup finalists on Saturday evening when both Divisional Finals games will take place. Both games can be seen live on the NLL Network at NLL.com while the Toronto-Buffalo match will also be shown Sunday at 2PM on Versus.

Eastern Division Final

Toronto Rock (11-6) at Buffalo Bandits (11-6), 7:30 PM at HSBC Arena

Regular Season: Buffalo won the season series 2-1.

Playoff History: This will be the third meeting in postseason. Toronto won last season’s East Semi-Final 13-11 at Air Canada Centre while Buffalo took a 19-10 decision in the 2004 East Final.

How they got here: Toronto scored seven straight goals after falling behind 3-1 and held on to defeat the Rochester Knighthawks 10-8 last Sunday at Air Canada Centre. Garrett Billings and Colin Doyle each put up three goals and three assists for the Rock. Buffalo got a goal from John Tavares with 40 seconds left in regulation to lead the Bandits to an 11-10 win at home over the Boston Blazers last Saturday. The game winner came after Boston scored four consecutive goals to tie the game. The goal was the third of the game for Tavares, who also added four assists while teammate Roger Vyse chipped in four goals.

X-Factors: Toronto does not want to be trailing at halftime or going into the fourth quarter as the Bandits are 9-0 when leading at the half and after three quarters (including playoffs) this season. Buffalo should feel the same way; the Rock has a 10-1 record when leading at halftime and 11-1 after three. The teams’ pre-season scrimmage and second regular season tilt both were fight filled affairs. While the playoffs are high spirited expect both teams to keep a lid on the extracurricular activities.

Western Division Final

Washington Stealth (9-8) at Calgary Roughnecks (12-5), 9:30 PM at Scotiabank Saddledome

Regular Season: Calgary won the season series 2-1.

Playoff History: This will be the third meeting in the postseason with Calgary having won the previous meetings (15-14 in 2004 and 17-5 in 2009).

How they got here: The defending champion Stealth defeated the Minnesota Swarm 14-8 last Saturday at Xcel Energy Center. Washington outscored the Swarm 8-2 in the second half to run away with the victory. Rhys Duch and Lewis Ratcliff each tallied three goals for the Stealth. Calgary won at home 10-6 over the Colorado Mammoth last Saturday night. A four goal second quarter was the difference for the Roughnecks, who were led by hat tricks from Dane Dobbie and Scott Ranger. Jeff Shattler added a goal and four assists for Calgary.

X-Factors: This will be the first matchup between the teams’ brotherly faceoff artists (Calgary’s Geoff and Washington’s Bob). These were the NLL’s top two teams (Washington 1st, Calgary 2nd) in scoring while both were near the bottom (Calgary 8th, Washington 9th) in defense. Washington has won three straight in Calgary since their loss in the 2009 DF. Both teams are undefeated when leading after three (Calgary 8-0, Washington 6-0). Both teams want to stay out of the penalty box (Washington 1st in Power play at 49.4%, Calgary 2nd at 45.4%).

LaxPhilly picks: Buffalo and Washington. Record of 2-2 last week.